Most people are optimists, although they may claim they are not. People who call themselves realists are often the biggest optimists of all.

Wanting more is just a recipe for heartache.

To the devil with false modesty.

The only leverage the manufacturer can apply to the retailer is his relationship with the consumer. And the main element in profit growth is going to have to lie in making his brand more valuable to the retailer, through its being more valuable to the consumer. And that means his brand must be unique, it must have no adequate direct substitutes - because it is in this, after all, that value lies.

The quickest way to learn about a new place is to know what it dreams of.

...women are better at keeping secrets, but men are more comfortable with them.

I don't make movies. I don't feel that I have to have artistic control. Part of this comes from the fact that the book lives on no matter what Hollywood does to your novel in terms of a film. Now, you try to be careful who you allow to do your film because nobody wants their novel to become a turkey movie. But, on the other hand, it is a crapshot anyway, because even the best people can make a bad film.